The 5' untranslated region of cucumber mosaic virus RNA4 confers highly competitive activity on heterologous luciferase mRNA in cell-free translation.
The cell-free translation of virion RNAs of several tripartite RNA viruses has shown that RNA4, a subgenomic RNA, is more competitive than other virion RNAs. Recently, the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) RNA4 was identified to be a competitive determinant. In this study, we observed that the RNA4 of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), another tripartite RNA virus, was also found to be a strong competitor in translational competition among CMV virion RNAs. To identify the competitive determinant of CMV RNA4, we constructed various chimeric luciferase mRNAs containing RNA4 and/or vector-derived UTRs. The relative translations of luciferase-containing mRNA in the presence of a competitor mRNA showed that the 5' UTR, not the 3' UTR, substantially contributed to the highly competitive activity of CMV RNA4.
Kwon
C S
CS
Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon, South Korea.
Paek
K H
KH
Chung
W I
WI
D002457:Cell Extracts / Q000235:genetics; D017799:Cucumovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
D002457:Cell Extracts; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D008156:Luciferases